EVER so stealthily, the revivified Empire State Building is beginning to flex its muscles.

Three new leases have been signed at the landmark office tower on 34th Street for a grand total of around 53,000 square feet.

That will sound like a drop in the bucket only to those unfamiliar with the past history of internal neglect at 350 Fifth Ave.

The new leases are early payoff from the Wien & Malkin-managed property’s commitment to bring the 2.6 million square-foot building into the modern age – a strategy that includes $400 million in capital and aesthetic improvements and the hiring of CB Richard Ellis as leasing agent.

The new tenants are public relations firm Taylor Global, which took close to 25,000 square feet, and Lufthansa with about 5,500 square feet.

Those modest leases are a quantum leap for the Empire State, where previous management had leased out tiny spaces like flea market stalls.

The tower still has 800-plus office tenants, many paying rents far below market.

Things began to change last year when Wien & Malkin, led by president Anthony Malkin, took control after a court fight that saw previous leasing agent Helmsley Spear step aside.

(The Empire State is owned by an entity controlled by Peter L. Malkin, Anthony’s father, and Leona Helmsley, who is not affiliated with Helmsley-Spear.)

Among other steps, Malkin is reconfiguring 850-odd office suites into half that number as leases expire, which will soon generate a block of 100,000 square feet.

Last March, Malkin said asking rents run from the mid-$40s to the low-$60s.

No one involved in the new leases wanted to comment.

That, sources say, is because the CBRE team – Stephen Eynon, Mitch Rudin and Simon Wasserberger, backed by the clout of regional CEO Mary Ann Tighe – will likely have larger deals to report after Labor Day, and wanted to keep things under wraps.

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Larry Silverstein‘s 7 World Trade Center is nearly 72 percent leased.

Four companies have signed for a total 30,000 square feet – Scout Real Estate, IVC Corp., Kostelanetz & Fink, and WhenTech.

In addition, NCR Corp. and Silverstein have a term sheet for the 35th floor, or 40,000 square feet.

Scottsdale Insurance and another firm have term sheets for half the 33rd floor, where rents are in the low $70s per foot.

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Carlton Advisory Services has arranged a $124 million first mortgage and joint-venture equity financing for Gotham Realty’s purchase of the 207,000 square-foot office portion of 110 E. 42nd St. from SL Green.

110 E. 42nd St. is among the buildings temporarily closed by last week’s steam pipe blast.